Gas grills typically use propane or natural gas as fuel and generally employ an ignition device in order to ignite same. Such an ignition device may include a gas collector electrode assembly and a manually operated piezoelectric transducer which acts as a spark generator. The manually operated piezoelectric transducer is electrically connected to the gas collector electrode assembly and provides the spark which is required to ignite the fuel-air mixture within the gas collector.
Gas collectors have many configurations, depending upon their application, and have an electrode assembly attached thereto and positioned therein so that the tip of the electrode and the top of the gas collector form a spark gap. The electrode is typically retained within a sleeve of ceramic material which acts as an insulator between the electrode and the metallic collector. The sleeve of ceramic material is typically attached to the gas collector by one or more retaining rings. Since retaining rings are utilized, the disassembly of the ceramic sleeve from the gas collector is a relatively difficult task, thus preventing the cleaning of the gas collector electrode assembly by the end user. In addition, since one or more retaining rings are typically utilized to attach the sleeve of ceramic material to the gas collector, assembly costs are relatively high. This type of assembly is almost always done in the factory because of the difficulty that would be encountered with assembly by the purchaser of the gas grill. In addition, after the sleeve of ceramic material has been attached to the gas collector there is always the possibility of breaking the ceramic sleeve during shipping since it is difficult to protect same when in the assembled state.
Because of the foregoing, it has become desirable to develop a simple, inexpensive structure for the gas collector and the electrode which permits same to be readily assembled and/or disassembled by the end user.